I live on a tiny island.  In Malta, social networks extend to neighbours and friends of friends and migrant communities in the four corners of the globe.  And always, there has been a hunger for technology, learning and shiny electronic devices.  So when social media hit the attention bandwidth, people scrambled to Facebook.  Over 25% of the population now reportedly has an account.

And yet, mention social media in business circles and you’re likely to be met with shrugs and visible signs of suspicion and discomfort.  It’s not entirely surprising.  Like many countries, there are many vested interests in keeping the status quo intact when it comes to marketing budgets:  many of these are still spent on mainstream newspaper print, TV and radio.   PR agencies continue to play it safe and rely on ‘trusted’ networks and influencers and ’sit on the fence’ until someone forces them to do things differently.

And yet:  the new tribes of communicators, bloggers and trouble-makers are starting to quietly mobilise.  Every day sees a new Facebook page, a blog and more fumbling with Twitter.  I don’t know how long it will take – but in a micro, highly-competitive business environment, it is inevitable that decision-makers will wake up to the fact that their customers and prospects’ attention now lies elsewhere; and that they are going to need to engage with them in a totally different way using the ‘new’ tools.

This is the deck of slides I used earlier this week for a talk at Digital Arts Expo, Malta’s largest digital media event.

Chris Brogan recently wrote an excellent post about why community really matters.  And then  Valeria Maltoni waded in that ‘being helpful’ should be ‘the new black’.   If you’re in Melbourne on the 22nd and 23rd September, you can catch my friend Stephen Johnson and social media luminaries  such as Darren Rowse and David Armano over 2 days of conferences and workshops – and it won’t cost you a dime other than a donation to your favourite charity.

Wherever you look, the traditional networking and underlying business models are being turned on their head.  Free is in vogue – many of us are also using the downturn to take a new hard look of how we, and our clients, are operating and trying to think sideways.

I came across this post from Rheingold, today:  ’When social media grew from a playground and laboratory for a small group of enthusiasts into a worldwide platform for commerce, politics, sociality, I became convinced that knowing how to use and think about social media could influence the final shape of the emerging infosphere. What you know and do today matters because it will be part of setting the rules for who can use these media, how they can use them, who will profit, and who will control tomorrow’s media’.

Even on my island, a bunch of people tool the plunge and are launching Mobile Monday on the 14th September  in the hope that they can start a small movement.  The planning for this event has been approximately 5 weeks.  I’m happy to be involved in this one.

And speaking of helpful – and how sharing and ‘free’ is what I believe will undpin the next wave of innovation (and hopefully, my research),  here’s a great deck of slides on post digital marketing.  I love Slideshare.

Here’s a July 2009 talk at the Reboot Britain event by the grandfather of virtual communities.  He says that we have to get beyond individual skills to  acquire 21st century literacies, and that these skills plus community are what is driving social media.  This talk focuses on: attention, participation, cooperation; critical consumption (crap detection) and network awareness.  And about the future of education.

It’s compelling to watch.

It’s been on my mind for a while.  Like the past 15 years.

One of the things about getting older and moving to a small place, is that you gradually become the peer group.  And that’s when you can do one of two things.  Cruise into your comfort zone.  Or look at the warning signs on the dashboard of your life, and do something new.

A chance reconnection on Twitter has ended up with me registering on the PhD program at the School of Arts and New Media at Scarborough.  The provisional research area is  the ‘free’ model that underpins most social media applications.  But like most people who have gone down this journey before, I know what I’m going in with – I guess I’ll find out more during the research process.

I’d like to continue doing change management work – as a strategist, it’s where I can really make a difference.  And in Malta InsideOut, we’ve got a side project which takes a lot of time and commitment to sustain.

But I’m also going to make time to explore new connections and challenge what I think I know.

Onwards.

Yesterday, together with my friend Gege Gatt,  I gave a talk to a COMNET-IT workshop meeting in Malta.  It was interesting to see public servants start to scramble for their 3G phones and laptops at the end.

Here’s the deck of slides we presented.

Video of  Google Wave Developer Preview presentation Keynote of Google I/O. There is more information here.

I was first attracted to this book by both the title, and the fact that it was co-written by Marcus Buckingham, a proponent of the ’strengths’ philosophy that I have embraced in the work place.

This is a deck of slides I have compiled for the Alt-MBA group that has spun out of Seth Godin’s Triiibes.

UPDATE:  Slideshare selected this as a featured presentation.  Nice to know it resonated with some.

Sometimes, it’s easy to forget that what we now take for granted is very young.  Here, Kevin Kelly outlines his vision for Web 3.0 and other things wonderful.  Kevin’s blog is always a source of inspiration.

I’ve spent the past 2 days immersed in the IFA Press Conference in Malta.   I first heard the Conference was coming to Malta when I picked up a tweet from Steven Leon from ShowStoppers on my ‘Malta’ search column on TweetDeck.  We exchanged a couple of 140-character tweets with links to our blogs and before you know it we were immersed in a conversation on logistics, technology and local interest.  Who says social media and Twitter in particular is not useful for making real life connections?

Steven introduced me to Tim Bajarin, President of Creative Strategies.  I spent a fascinating 20 minutes listening to Tim’s unique insights on personal computers and the next wave of computer technology developments.  ”I’ve been through seven recessions since I joined the company in 1981,” said Tim.  ”Every time there’s a recession, technology companies always emerge stronger.  Sure, there is correction and weaker companies fall by the wayside.  But I expect the same thing to happen again at the end of this recessionary cycle”.

Tim’s closing remarks at the IFA Press Conference are in the video below.  It’s worth your three minutes.

A CEO recently told me he had an inkling he needed to get his brands on ‘some of those social media things’ but that he had no idea where to start, or whether social media marketing worked.

In contrast, Andrew Alamango of Etnika fame sold out two nights of Café Brazil jazz last autumn using Facebook as the primary means of marketing the event. Historic house museum Palazzo Falson, which has been on Facebook only a month, says it ‘could not resist the irony of having an ancient house with a strong presence on the most happening social network site’. It appears that those with little or no marketing budget are more inclined to investigate, and invest time in social media channels than potentially more cash-rich businesses.

But social media is nothing new. From internet’s earliest days, we’ve had chat, forums, message boards and virtual worlds. Today, blogs, podcasts, social networks, photo- and video-sharing sites, RSS (really simple syndication) and more, all fall within its scope. We now talk to each other by posting on a Facebook wall, uploading a video on YouTube and ‘Twittering’ about our every move. Even websites’ pre-eminence is being whittled away. Search engines pick up well-tagged blogs rather than website urls. Your homepage is now wherever someone lands when they search for you.

Little of this has, until now, interested business, particularly local business in Malta. But, when Dell has a senior Vice-President Communities & Conversations, you know that social media is moving up a gear and becoming more mainstream as a business tool. Today, any entity used to mediating and controlling its publics will have to face this paradigm shift and engage in online conversations if it is to stay relevant to its audiences.

But social media for business is not without a learning curve. There are some basics to get right, if you want to join the conversations and gain.

Get closer to your clients

Social media is about understanding customer nature, and nurturing it. Consumers today prefer to read and listen to opinions about products and services from fellow consumers and their peers. If you are going to use social media, don’t interrupt their natural conversations with corporate spin and one-way marketing messages. You need to foster a valued, trusted, authentic voice to get heard in the babble.

Listen to some home truths

On social media, your customers tell it to you straight. Dell discovered from its Twitter presence that people thought its customer support centre was abysmal. It took measures to improve the service based on the customer gripes it picked up on Facebook comments. Better to know than not know.

Market cost-effectively

In a recession, social media becomes more important simply because barriers to entering it are zero. It costs nothing to set up and manage a Facebook page or to Twitter; only your time. You can monitor return on investment though, as social media has readily-available metrics. Start low-key and learn what works.

Engage with purpose

Find people who are passionate about social media within your organisation. Let your social media-savvy employees do their bit on your behalf, but as themselves. Palazzo Falson has two staff members with responsibility for its Facebook page, and, according to the curator, they are doing a great job.

Enter social media conversations wisely

Ryan Air heard disgruntled customers moaning about it on Twitter, and entered the fray publicly on the medium giving all customers a cocky brush off. Within an hour, the Ryan Air ‘Tweets’ had been pulled, probably by a senior executive who thought a junior’s hasty responses ill advised. Social media is about immediacy, but think before you post or tweet.

Don’t socialise everywhere

Your goal should be to fish where your fish are. You don’t have to touch each conversation, but you need to be having one or two, because whether your business realises or not, it’s on social media already. Your name is being bandied about as any Google search will show you.

Lastly…see your customers as your allies, not just as people to sell to. They are your real brand value, so value their online conversations about you and with you.